Curse of Water
by Miashin
Summary: PG13-for language. Book 1 of the Deity Trilogy! Yugi falls seriously ill after a day in the park turns into a struggle for survival. As his friends search desperatley for a cure, whispers of disaster begin to curl through the air.
1. Beginning of the End

Hey all. Erm...yeah, sorry about vanishing like that. I was kind off ashamed of this story for a little while. I got the Japanese school system totally wrong. Factor into that my natural lazyness and procrastination and you've got the lack of a proper update to this story.

So I took the story down, updated it, and added a lot of extra stuff to the first chapter to apologize.PLEASE forgive me.

Now to set the story. The timeline is after battlecity, but before anything else, except the movie. Also, this story is based on a different timeline of events that occurred in ancient Egypt and somewhat the present world. Most basic things are the same, but there are also some major differences. Like Yugi being an orphan and such stuff. This story is obviously AU. But I do try to keep the characters as close to the originals as possible.

Lastly, even though this story is already set and planned out, suggestions are welcome. I won't change major points of it because those are set in stone, literally. But I will consider any suggestions you send in, and if I happen to use another person's idea I will give credit where it is due.

So now I'd like to welcome new readers, and old ones as well, to the first chapter of the first book in the Deity Trilogy.

* * *

Key/Legend

* * *

"blah"-normal talking 

_blah-_Hikary to Yami mental communication (private)

**blah**-Yami to Hikary mental communication (private)

blah-general mental communication (non private)

(((blah)))-author notes

* * *

In the back of his mind he suddenly realized that it had gotten strangely quiet. Hadn't there been talking just a while ago? Meanderingly he struggled back up into wakefulness. It was slow and hard going for his sleep deprived brain. 

CLAPBANG!

His yami, who had also been sleeping, felt the distinct disadvantages of not having a physical body as he fell from his floating position and through the floor in surprise. Yugi himself uttered a yelp as his head shot of the desk and away from the explosion. There was giggling and murmuring around him, at least the rest of the class was enjoying this.

He looked down at the source of the disturbing noise. On his table now lay a very large teacher's edition of his literature book, which was now promptly being picked up by its owner.

"Mutou-kun, I thought I had made the rules of this classroom quite clear at the beginning of the semester. Isn't it a shame that you will be joining me after school today?"

There was nothing for Yugi to do besides reply with a tired and dejected "Yes, Mitsuhori-sensei." With a nod of her head the teacher moved on to Jounouchi who, coincidentally, was asleep as well. She heaved a sigh of exasperation and let her book fall flat on the table.

CLAPBANG!

Jounouchi's yelp seemed to reach a higher pitch than Yugi's. Unlike Yugi, though, he tried to escape the offending noise, which ended with him tipping his chair backward and landing in an undignified heap on the floor. He got up as quickly as possible trying to salvage what little dignity he had left as Honda, who had been sitting behind him, helped him up. In the mean time the rest of the class was rolling with laughter, even Kaiba had a smirk playing on his face. Anzu though, in the back and a seat away from Bakura, was just shaking her head at her friends.

Once Jounouchi had his chair settled back to standing on all four of its legs and was about to sit back down Keiji spoke, "Well, Katsuya-kun, I guess we'll be seeing more of each other after school won't we?" the only reply she received was a half hearted grunt as Jounouchi sat back down with a distinctly more dejected air about him.

"As for the rest of you..."

Mitsuhoriturned around and a deathly silence fell on the class, broken only by the occasional whisper. "Since some of your peers seem to be forgetting, I will refresh your memory on my golden rules." Her eyes traveled over the class, to Yugi she looked like a hawk scanning a field for its pray. She started walking toward her desk, snatching a bag from beneath one of the tables and the hand that had been trying to conceal it there.

"Number one, no drinking or eating in my room." She droped the bag of Pocky that she had just taken and picked up a stack of credit card sized paper. _Detention Slips_ Yugi thought. One of the slips went to the now Pocky-less boy. "Number two, no sleeping during my class." Two more slips: one for Yugi, the other for Jounouchi. Keiji did stop long enough to eye Bakura critically. He too had had his head down, but unlike his two friends his work had been completed and he hadn't actually been sleeping, this didn't seem to please her any though. "Number three," she moved on deciding to let Bakura get away with it this time, "no talking while I'm talking." Another two slips, these for a pair of girls sitting in the back row beside Anzu. All the half concealed murmuring suddenly stoped, as if someone had flicked an off switch. "Number four, no playing with toys during my class." Another slip for another girl, this time in exchange for some Duel Monster Cards. "Number five, no electronic devices that distract from my class work." With the final rule the impossible happened, Seto Kaiba was, for the first time in school history, relieved of his PDA and put into detention. Stares followed the teacher as she moved back to the head of the class, stares and one cold blue eyed glare.

"All of the people in detention today are repeat offenders so I do not want to hear about how cruel this is. And even though some of you may think that circumstances allow the rules to be bent for you," at this her eyes went from Jounouchi to Kaiba, "that is not the case. As it is I have had to waste the last fifteen minutes of class on this and so you will not have time to start your homework."

There was a collective groan asMitsuhori turned around to write the assignment on the board. Yugi stole a quick glance in Kaiba's direction, the CEO's eyes read murder. Yugi then turned around to look at Jounouchi, despite being in detention himself the blonde seemed hard pressed not to laugh at Kaiba's 'injustice'.

Yugi winced as the bell rang and noise erupted both inside the room and in the hall. People were hurrying to half an hour of freedom, otherwise known as lunch, before their next class. He had been about to stand up before a fit of coughing seized him. After he regained control over his breathing a very clear and concerned voice spoke into his head

**"Maybe we should call home."**

Yugi looked to his left to watch hi yami desperately try to claw himself out of the floor. The younger was getting very tired of hearing that.

"Hey Yugi, you o'kay? You sound like my grandmother and look even worse, no offense." Jounouchi said from behind Yugi as the smaller boy started packing his things.

"It's nothing, just a cold." Yugi said wondering whether he was assuring his yami or Jounouchi with the statement.

"How'd you get a cold this early into winter?" Jounouchi frowned and then shrugged, "On second thought, never mind, I guess there has always got to be a first for the bug to spread."

Once Yugi was packed up they both started heading out of the class, Jounouchi slowing his pace to let the other go ahead of him. Yugi couldn't help but notice that therest of his 'friends'had already left. He must really not be doing too good of a jobabout staying in touch with reality. They probably had planned the Jounouchi-bodyguard part too.

"If you're not feeling well, maybe you should call your grampa to pick you up." Jounouchi said, trying to be helpful. Case and point, Jounouchi wasn't attune enough into details to be able to draw that conclusion off his own, meaning Anzu or Honda had put him up to this.

"I'm fine." Yugi found himself repeating for what seemed the zillionth and first time. Definitely a couple billion at least sine he had to say it a nice thousand times to his grandfather, and then a couple million to his yami.

Yugi suppressed a groan as they entered the cafeteria. It was way too noisy for his already aching head. Not that the overdose of sound was anything new.

"Aren't you going to eat anything?" Anzu asked as Yugi came over to their normal table, Jounouchi having disappeared for the lunch line.

"I'm not hungry." The smallest of the group replied as he sat across from Bakura and beside Anzu.

"You sure," Honda, who was sitting beside Bakura, continued the interrogation, "not even for a burger?"

Yugi laughed a little at that, well he kind off had been expecting his friends to grill him about his 'cold' as soon as chance permitted. "No, not even for a double cheese and salade hamburger." He said this time giving his companions a real unforced smile, well to the two that were paying attention anyway. Bakura had his head down on the table, eyes closed, face looking to the right, and hands resting limply in his lap.

"K, if you say so." Honda said, as he and Anzu shared a concerned look.

Bakura opened his eyes long enough to pass a searching gaze over Yugi, wich was returned with equal force. Bakura looked and acted about as sick as the smaller, and after a second decided to quite the staring contest as he closed his eyes and sighed. The movement caused the millennium ring to hit the metallic table and give off an eary though somewhat pleasant chime. Yugi after a second decided to follow Bakura's example, but added his own flare as he pillowed his head in his arms instead of just laying it on the table. His own millennium item ruined it a little as it only made a hollow thunk against the table.

**"So now you prefer the ring over me?"** his darker half spoke out in mock indignation.

_"It certainly looks prettier than the puzzle, and probably is a couple pounds lighter. Not to mention that you can sleep with it and not have to worry about rolling over on it and braking your bones. I wouldn't ever have to worry about loosing it either, since its power returns it to its owner. I certainly wouldn't have to be concerned about it braking into a couple hundred pieces if I hit it against anything hard. You wan't me to go on?"_ Yugi smiled at the table, he enjoyed his and Yami's verbal tennis, no matter his health.

**"No, you've made your point quite clear."** Yami added an extremely fakesniffle for affect, **"After all I was only the pharaoh and nobly sacrificed my self to protect this world from..., YUGH, anchovies."** Yugi couldn't help it, he laughed earning him a strange look from Anzu and Honda which he didn't see since he still had his head in his arms. Yami retreated away into his soul room, where he was separated from the input of Yugi's senses, which had just started to pick up on the smell of anchovy pizza as Jounouchi sat down beside Yugi and across from Honda.

"Sheeze, you too Bakura?" the blonde said, "What is this, an epidemic?"

Yugi snorted and kicked Bakura under the table, signaling that the white haired boy should tell the story now that everybody was here. Ryou lifted his head long enough to say, "Me, Yugi, Park, pond, cold, magic, hospital, the end." Obviously thinking that enough, Bakura returned his head to its original position. Yugi kicked him again but the other boy chose to ignore it.

Honda blinked owlishly at his pale hared friend before giving Jounouchi and Anzu a did-you-get-that look. Yugi started into another coughing fit, effectively cutting of any questions that they were about to ask.

"Maybe I'm just being slow as usual, but would someone care too explain that story a little better." Jounouchi asked once Yugi had regained his breath.

With a sigh and another kick to Bakura (which was returned for good measure), and a **"Your violent when you're not feeling well, aibou**, Yugi decided that he might as well tell his part of the story. After all these were his friends, they had a right, as well as needed, tohave a proper explanation, and maybe Bakura would feel more talkative after Yugi had said his peace. And so lifting his head Yugi started on last Friday after school which...

* * *

Flashback

* * *

It had been a mostly uneventful Friday. Which wasn't a good thing in Yugi's book, since it meant that he had to sit behind the counter of his grandpa's store and...well...sit there...and look cute for customers whoalways treated him like a 10-year old. During the weekends there were usually a lot more people visiting the shop, since they had free time, and children brought home good grades for the week and got presents. But Fridays were slow, most everybody just felt too lazy after a week of working to go anywhere. Which is exactly why he had jumped at the chance to go out with Bakura and leave the store for even a short time. Bakura was for one thing the only other person available since Honda had declared Friday was cram day and Jounouchi and Anzu were at work. He had also been looking for a good time to talk to the white haired boy about the millennium ring, the memory of the dark spirits near sacrifice of Bakura leaving a bitter taste in the smaller boy's mouth. 

But he really hadn't expected gentle, kind Bakura to protest the subject as vehemently as he did. They were walking through the park now, having stopped by Burger World for a short chat with Anzu a while ago. And as they entered the lightly wooded area Yugi decided to drop the argument for a moment with a sigh. The air was crisp causing the small boy to curl further into his jacket. 'Short person rule number 1: Have a lot of heavy and warm coats because you'll get cold real easy.' The season was just around that time where fall was starting to be forced to give way to winter, but still stubbornly hanging on like the many colored leaves on the trees.

Like thinking of the devil is to attract his attention, the winter shook its pale fur, starting the second sprinkle of white dust for that year. Yugi blinked at the perfect little crystal of white that landed on his nose, and, looking up, saw more bright jewels falling from the sky.

"I love the snow!" Yugi jumped a little at the outburst turning to look at Bakura who had also lifted his head towards the sky. "Ne, Yugi? Race 'ya to the bridge!" The taller boy didn't even wait for a reply, he was off less then a second after voicing the challenge. It took a second for the event to register in Yugi's mind, before he started after Bakura with an exclamation of "Unfair!"

_"He must really like snow to get this hyper over it."_ Yugi mused with a smile. **"That, or he is trying to force out thoughts he doesn't wish to entertain."** Yugi's smile turned into a frown. That was more likely it considering the subject area from a couple of minutes ago. He soon gave up on catching up to Bakura and decided to just walk to the bridge. 'Short person rule number 2: Don't bother trying to outrun people with longer legs then yours, it just doesn't happen.'

The bridge wasn't anything too impressive. It was a little traditional looking thing, made out of imported redwood, with the railing painted a brighter red and patterned with little gold dragons and phoenixes. It stretched over a small shallow pond that in spring and summer contained the most famous Koi in Domino city, not that that said much.

There were about five fish and they were all rather large, Yugi knew for a fact that they had tried adding some smaller fish into the pond a couple of years ago. Those other fish weren't there long though, and he was also pretty sure that the first five had eaten them. The five Koi had all been named, though not by the city or the park. They were just names that traveled around until everybody accepted them. The largest of the fish was calico patterned, with his back covered in ruddy black, his name was Akashin. The smallest, was almost completely black with a little white on his stomach, fins, and under his eyes, and his name was Shinshi. Zearzen, got his strange name because he was equally strange as an all white albino with bloody pinkish-red eyes. There was also Kazukori, he was covered in red patches all over, almost like a dalmatian. Takaha was the last and second largest of them, and he had a nasty temper. Whenever people would come to feed the Koi he would chase the others away. He was mostly red, with white splotchy lines covering him.

Not that there were any Koi in the pond today. The fall and winter in Domino were too harsh for the fish, so they were moved into an aquarium within the city hall. As it was now, the pond had a small thin ice covering running along the edges. Solid enough to get a glazed white look but not yet strong enough to reach far into the pond or support any wait.

Bakura was leaning on the red railing of the bridge and staring into the cold waters of the pond while his right hand traced small circles on the Sennen Ring. He didn't even bother looking up as Yugi walked across the bridge, his footsteps making small hollow thumps that echoed underneath them.

"Ne, Yugi, where are your parents?" The question was tentative and musing, giving the smaller the option to ignore it as he looked over the railing into the water as well. For which he had to hop on one of the lower bars to get height enough to see over the edge. Yugi looked up long enough to notice Bakura watching him from the corner of his eyes. The smaller considered staying quiet, but after a brief conflict with himself he decided to give an answer.

"Dead...murdered." The last word had been added after a small pause and even then it came out as barley more then a mumble. Bakura looked up with a start, "Sorry..." he said as he averted his gaze back to the water.

"Don't worry about it." Yugi chirped trying to lift the depressing mood that had covered the small little bridge. Bakura looked up again to give him an incredulous look.

"But...doesn't it hurt?" he questioned a bit disbelieving.

"No not really. I don't remember them. I was just a little over a year old at the time. It's just been me and my grandpa for as far back as I can think." The smaller replied sounding just that tiny bit wistful. It did hurt a little when other people came to school or walked around with their parents.

"Oh." Bakura thought over that for a little while.

"Why?" Yugi said abandoning looking down the railing. "What about your parents?"

Bakura sighed as his right hand closed over the Sennen Ring impulsively. "My father used to be a really nice person. He'd play with me and take us, me and my sister, along on his trips. But when my mother and sister died on one of those expeditions he changed. He didn't want to take me along anymore and just grew distant. Now he just drowns himself in his work."

"Oh." Yugi felt like a parrot but he really couldn't think of anything else to say.

"That's why I can't let go of the ring."

"Nani?" One of Yugi's eyebrows lifted at that, the statement made no sense.

"I got into the occult because I wanted to talk to my mother and sister again. Or just to see them if nothing else. But nothing I ever tried worked. Not until my dad brought me the Sennen Ring. I can't control it, but that doesn't change the fact that it is the first supernatural thing that ever occurred to me."

"And even if the spirit is evil, at least with it around I won't ever be alone." The last sentence was added as nothing more then an after thought, but Yugi could feel that it carried more meaning and weight then anything else his friend had said.

He had also effectively gotten his feet wiped out from underneath him, figuratively speaking, and really couldn't think of anything better then 'but it's EVIL' to argue with. He did feel sorry for his friend, well maybe not sorry as much as sympathetic. Bakura, the normal one at least, didn't deserve to be put through something like this.

**"People that deserve to be punished often are not, and those that don't deserve it get the harder cards played on them."**

_"That's not a very optimistic view, and must you relate everything to games."_

**"It'srealistic and yes."**

_"I was being rhetorical."_

**"I know that too."**

Yugi sighed, sometimes his darker half just wasn't worth dealing with. The yami probably knew exactly how to convince Bakura, though it probably involved some game, probably Duel Monsters, and ridiculously high stakes. No, better not try to deal with all that now, especially since the temperature was dropping and he wouldn't mind going back to the store and sitting around with a nice warm cup of tea. He pointed this out to his friend.

"...So why don't we go to my grandpa's shop. I could get you a discount on some cards."

Bakura pushed away from the railing to face Yugi one of his eyebrows lifting. "Peace?" he put out his hand a small smile fighting at the corner of his lips.

"Peace." Yugi agreed not bothering to hide his amusement at the quick turn of the situation. As they shook hands in mock formality Bakura's smile won the fight against his depressing mood.

It didn't last long though. Neither of them had been paying much attention to their surroundings. There hardly was any need to since the park didn't get dangerous until after 7:00 p.m. But as Bakura's eyes focused on two new figures at the end of the bridge, in the direction from which he and Yugi had come, he felt a sinking in his gut. They looked just a year older then him and Yugi and, even though they weren't wearing any uniforms he recognized them as a local group of vandals from nearby Gaikin Highschool that went out of their way to jump him on his usual rout home.

"Ne, Bakura..." Yugi's tone as well as the echo of footsteps behind him alerted the taller of the two targets to the presence of more people behind him. Turning around he saw three more students blocking the other side of the bridge.

**"I'll take them."**

_"Don't hurt them."_

**"Of course no—YUG—!"**

Yugi felt more then saw the electric spark curl through the air. It arched up his spine and into his chest and head, cutting of the connection with his yami. Time seemed to suddenly slow, there was a crash beside him as three of the Gaikin slamed Bakura into the railing. The usually brown eyes of his friend were trieing desperately to shift to a more redish hue as the Ring's spirit fought to gain control of the body. Yugi was only able to take one step towards the struggling boy before the other two Gaikin students where on top of him. "_YAMI!"_ but there was no reply or sign of help, the electric feeling was still spinning through the air, and somewhat absently Yugi noted that he could almost see it now, attached to the Gaikin students like strings to a puppet, writhing and curling around their necks and heads in blue threads. He really couldn't put up much of a fight, they were almost more then twice his size, and before he knew it he had been heaved over the bridge and into the pond.

Bakura hadn't fared much better sadly. Unlike Yugi, he noted the electricity's build up just before it's initial release. For a moment he was frozen with fear as an echo of the electric power surged through his body, this one coming from the ring, though, instead of the air.** "RUN!"** the commandleft no room for argument butless then half a second later the power from the ring was being forced away as it's far darker counterpart spiked from the air into Bakura's spine, the two powers beginning a struggle against each other with the ring quickly losing ground.

The three students on his side of the bridge moved forward at the first spark of power that ran through the air, he tried to turn around and run but one grabbed him by the right arm. A second took hold of his left and, overbalancing, he fell and was slammed into the bridges railing. The power of the ring had almost completely been squashed away and any forethought he might have had gave way to panic. Looking around he saw Yugi being thrown over the bridge. He heard the splash of his friend hitting the water as the three captors tried to lift him over the railing as well. He was slightly proud in the back of his head that he was making it rather difficult for them, kicking and punching and generally making a chore of the whole thing. Never the less, with the help of the other two students he soon found himself joining Yugi in the pond.

Though...it wasn't a pond anymore. Hitting the water wasn't all that painful, the cold however made him gasp, getting a lung full of the icy liquid as a reward. Straitening to push of the bottom his feet found nothing but more cold water below him. Striking frantically with both his arms and legs he broke back through the surface, choking and spitting out the water that had made its way down his throat. He wasn't there for long, the electricity arced over the bridge as the 5 students ran for the woods laughing to themselves. It bounced into the water skidding along the surface and diving down, farther then he could sense. Not that he wanted too.

Difficultly he mad his way through the water towards the shore on his right. The cold had already started to freeze his limbs and suck away his strength, but at the same time the water seemed to almost solidifying around him. It fealt more and more like he was trying to swim through jello then through liquid. But the electricity singing around him drove his fear and kept him moving until with a final heave of his legs, as they found purchase on the ground near the shore, he pushed himself up and out of the icy cold mockery of a pond into the blistering freeze of the air. He may have been cold but he was more then a little relieved to find that the electricity seemed to have contained itself to the water and not followed him back out.

For a moment he kneeled in the frosty ground shivering and gathering his wits back together. He could still feel, and hear to a certain extend the lightning at his back. But what truly brought him back to reality was the heavy splash of something else breaking the waters surface. Whipping around he couldn't see anything, except black lightning skimming over the water and congregating around one particular spot in the liquid. For a moment he wavered, not knowing what to do.

He wanted to rush into the water and help Yugi, the smaller boy was probably in trouble seeing as he hadn't reappeared at the surface yet. But he couldn't get his legs to move closer to the water and the terrifying black lightning. The indecision and panic of maybe having his friend hurt right before his eyes increased the force of the shivers that were running down his spine.

"Hey! Are you alright!" Bakura looked up to see an old couple hurrying over the path towards him. There was a tight concerned look around the woman's face, the man on the other hand looked like he was about to hurt someone.

"Those punks didn't do anything to ya'? Come here you're alright now." The woman spoke kindly as she took of her thick wool jacket and wrapped it around him. 'How had they covered that distance so quickly?' his mind questioned before turning to more important matters. He tried to tell them about Yugi and the water, and for kami's sake couldn't they SEE the black lightning. But he found that his throat seemed to have frozen and his lips and tongue refused to pull themselves together enough to shape words.

Looking panickly back at the pond he saw the lightning strike out from the water and towards him and the couple. He gave one last warning shout before a fork of it struck him right in the chest and blackness enveloped his vision.

* * *

**_Updated on:_** Friday, March 18, 2005 


	2. Shades of Aqua

Yar! Chapta twooooooooo!

Errr…random things to note. The pairings for the entire plot of all three stories have been decided. Sadly a lot of people seem to be going single, unless of course you readerswant me to take Kiraa's advice and go and stick Yaoi in her someplace. I really don't want to, Kiraa got all his say in our Digimon fic and I really don't wanna put anything like that here.

However majority public opinion shall prevail, so whatever the vote I'll have ta' follow. Actually I don't, prolly won't, but I'm giving ya the chance fore your opinions.

And while we are on the subject of romance, don't expect much from me. The most you'll ever see in this story is maybe some fluff. So all you lemon loving people are going to have to take your NC17 fandom elsewhere. The purpose of this story is plot. And for the sake of plot I have also kept as many of the original series pairings as I knew off. However, here and there you just might get a shocker so pay attention.

That's all for author notes today, and remember, an apple a day keeps the worm population down.

* * *

Key/Legend

* * *

"blah"-normal talking

_blah-_Hikary to Yami mental communication (private)

**blah**-Yami to Hikary mental communication (private)

blah-general mental communication (non private)

(((blah)))-author notes

* * *

Chapter 2: Shadows in Aqua

Bakura shifted uncomfortably as three gazes of concerned eyes pinned him down. Anzu looked him over as if he was about to fall into pieces, Jounouchi and Honda for their part were trying to be a little more discreet about it. Thankfully their gazes were removed from him as Yugi started coughing again. This was the third time since Bakura had started his solo monologue of what he could remember.

"And after that I woke up in the hospital, which was thankfully a whole lot warmer and more comfortable. Doctor said that I had sever hypothermia when they brought me in, kept us there for a day, and then let us back out that Sunday afternoon." He finished as Yugi quieted down.

"Hey, wait a minute!" Jounouchi stood up pointing a finger right at Bakura's nose and sounding very indignant. "If you got back Sunday afternoon, when did you have time to finish all your homework."

Behind the blonde Bakura could see Anzu role her eyes and had the distinct impression that Honda beside him was doing the same. "Sunday afternoon?" he tried, eyebrows raised. With a mutter Jounouchi was pulled back into his seed by his brunet neighbor "Not everyone's as slow at doing homework as you are."

Once Jounouchi had settled, somewhat, attention returned to Yugi. The smallest of the group had taken to staring at the surface of the table, eyes partially glazed over and apparently lost in thought. "Hey Yugi, how much do you remember?" the whispered question came from beside Bakura.

Yugi gave a shudder, showing that he had very well heard Honda though kept quiet for a while. "Well…it got a bit weird, after I hit the water." He once his contemplation seemed to be complete, though his eyes stayed fixed on the table.

* * *

Flashback

* * *

Freezing. As soon as he hit the water, Yugi felt like he was freezing. The cold and lightning cut through his clothes and skin, pinning him down, tying tons and tons of wait to him with iron chains. He couldn't move, only sink. Somewhere in the back of his head it registered that the pond was not supposed to be this deep, this cold, this black.

He tried, he really did, tried to swim up, push through the water. But claws closed around him. His throat, his hands, his feet. They pulled down and no matter how much he kicked they would not let go. They cut into his skin bit at his mind and whispered in his ear.

'Breath'

He couldn't, there was water everywhere. If he opened his mouth he'd drown, he'd die. Inside he could feel an equally desperate battle. Two forms, two blue fires cackling, cracking, tossing tongues of flame and sparks at each other. One blocking, the other desperately pushing out, fighting.

Something cracked, like lightning hitting earth. Yugi could hear it, through the water, the dizziness, the panic, a light. His puzzle exploded into a ball of fire in front of him. The talons and claws removed, the chains shattered, and his darker half burst past the confronting power and took over. Yugi gladly gave control to him, the younger couldn't think, couldn't act anymore, only watch.

The claws returned, this time more vicious trailing pain where they touched. Yami threw them off, the millennium puzzle still glowing like a halo of protection, the light biting out, cutting trough chains and unseen hands, slicing darkness and pulling upward toward it's counterpart hanging uncaringly in the sky above.

And then ceased.

Shadows all a round a black shape, curling twisting. A serpent tying around him. New claws, larger heavier, more brutal in nature closed around his throat, dragged him back down, from where he had just been able to struggle from. Opalescent orbs twisting infront of his visions, eyes and lamps. And then a stab, a claw reaching right through him groping for his young charge inside.

Yami gasped, icy blackness and water filling his lungs. A desperate lash to protect Yugi, a dieing attempt at a renewed flicker from the puzzle.

Light, the puzzle burst into pieces, the shadow realm sinking into the water. One monstrosity of nonexistence fighting in the other. And he was released, no hands came to claw at him just plain empty water to sink down into. No energy to struggle, nothing left, all sucked empty by an invisible snake now coiling around something older.

From the depths rose a new shape, a new shadow. Bloodshot eyes focused on him and he landed atop. And then the movement shifted, not down but up. The shadows faded, left to their battle at the bottom of eternity as slowly he was pushed back towards the border, light now shining down. And then the world came back, in a burst of air that refused to enter his lungs, the sharp wind blissfully warm compared to what had laid below.

Strong hands closed around him, pulled him out of the water. Voices, real human voices, echoed somewhere far away. He was turned around, face first into hot snow, a weight on his chest, and the water came out. One breath, two. The voices steadied, real warmth enveloped him, something large and dry, and then he was being moved again. In the distance the sound of sirens.

The darker half fell back, all power exhausted, and Yugi was pulled forward again.

Into a warm room, the light from the reflected snow on the window beside him enough to burn his eyes. He hissed and closed them quickly, turning his head away from the offending brightness before looking out again slowly and cautiously. A small hospital room, the redish hue to all the white gave away the offending shine that had awakened him as the sunset. He was alone, but most importantly he thought, he was safe and warm. And NOT wet.

* * *

Flashback END

* * *

"Wow, that was…disjointed." Were the first few words Jounouchi could say once. He was quickly reprimanded by a glare from Anzu and shifted away from the rather dangerous female. She, though, decided against pursuing his punishment in favor of investigating this event. "You said the puzzle broke?"

Yugi nodded, "I'm pretty sure I saw it brake, but it was all in one piece when I woke up."

"Well the puzzles obviously fine, but what were those things?" Anzu mused. "You said you saw a snake?" Honda quickly added as he leaned forward in interest.

"Well there were four of them actually." Yugi thought, "There was the first one, the one with all the lights and the fingers. Then there was the snake and after tha-" he was forced to brake off when another set of coughs forced it's way out. But, as if afraid of letting it go on too long, he quickly resumed the explanation, "After that came this other thing, it felt and looked kind of similar to the snake but it also felt a whole lot bigger. And then there was the one that carried me up, the one with the red eyes, it almost looked like a big boulder."

Jounouchi paled slightly at the explanation, "What if they are real monsters? And all that black stuff, was that the Shadow Realm?"

Yugi thought over it but ended up just shaking his head. "No, it was something like the Shadow Realm, but different. The Shadow Realm did appear, but it was when the other two 'things' showed up. But, they might have been monsters, I'm not sure."

"Well if they are monsters and the Shadow Realm's involved then there's probably some idiot calling it all up. I say we find him and take 'em down before things get really bad." Jounouchi stood up, determined to not allow what happened the previous few times someone had called up dark powers to happen again. But before Honda had to come up to keep the blond from storming right out of the school in pursuit of the perpetrator, Jounouchi fixed his gaze on their pale haired friend, who had been quiet since Yugi had started his narrative.

"Hey wait a minute," One finger pointed again at Bakura as the blonds eyes took on a suspicious gleam, "how do we know your not the evil Bakura and are just trying to trick us, and that it wasn't you who called up all those monsters to attack Yugi."

Bakura just blinked up at him, a bit wide eyed in surprise. "Because the Ring doesn't like the cold, so it never shows it's power during winter. That's actually why I moved up here, the winters are colder and last longer."

"Sit down." Anzu once again jerked Jounouchi back to his seat before the blonde could formulate a proper reply.

"Calm down Jounouchi, Bakura didn't have anything to do with this. He was just cought up in it, the same way as the rest of us. If we don't trust our friends, who can we trust?" Anzu tried to calm down the volatile situation.

"How about just yourself." Came the deadpan reply as Kaiba passed their table and Honda wasn't fast enough to stop Jounouchi from jumping at the CEO. "Mind your own business, moneybags!"

Kaiba stopped to throw a glare behind his shoulder, "It is my business when your stupidity cause my company to loose money."

Jounouchi was preparing to throw another insult out, but paused as the meaning of the statement sank in. "So I take it you didn't get your PDA back." It was a statement, not a question, and it was delivered with vicious mirth from the blond. Kaiba's glare merely intensified, "I'm not the only one losing money here mutt, and I would think that'd you'd feel it more then me." With that he turned around and simply ignored the group, proceeding to the very last back table.

Anzu just had her head in her hands, shaking it sadly from side to side, cought between anger at Jounouchi's behavior and sheer exasperation. It was probably a good thing that the bell decided to ring at that precise moment of time, because it gave Honda a good excuse to drag the kicking and screaming Jounouchi from the cafeteria and away from the target of his near homicidal rage.

It was an unnecessary attempt though, as a scream from Anzu was enough to redirect his attention. "Is that blood!"

Yugi had started into another coughing fit and now a couple drops of red flecked the hand that had come up to cover his mouth. "Ack, It's okay." He rushed to explain, cleaning the hand off on a paper napkin that he stole from Jounouchi's tray. "I just bit my lip." And sure enough there was a small cut that he quickly moved the napkin to, once his hand was clean.

Anzu however wasn't satisfied with the explanation, "That's it, your going home." She stood and half pushed half dragged Yugi out of the cafeteria as attempt any excuse he could think off for her to release him. His efforts were slightly hampered by the invisible dark spirit that trailed behind the two and echoed Anzu's decision.

"Scary…" Jounouchi muttered as he watched the pair retreat, not feeling up the helping Yugi against that kind of threat. "Come on let's go." Honda hefted his bag and helped Bakura up as he tripped slightly over his own feet.

"Careful! Maybe you should go home as well. Not good if you can't even walk straight." Bakura gave an embarrassed smile to the brunet, "I'm fine, really." After a critical once over Honda decided to leave the pale boy alone in favor of grabbing Jounouchi to drag him away from the mini ambush he had been setting for Kaiba. Bakura followed behind them, their arguing droned out by the sick feeling in his gut that had nothing to do with the cold. Should he have told about the other things he had seen as well? He really couldn't help it though, he just wasn't as good as Yugi at opening up to people. With a sight he attempted to shake the thoughts out of his head as the trio re-entered their class room, those little things probably weren't worth mentioning.

Minor note: Chapter1 will be going through some minor revisions. Just formatting, grammer, spelling, and such stuffs. Just thought I would let you all know.

Now for REVIEWS!

**

* * *

Dagger Maxwell: Oh wow, you mean there are some people that actually remember this thing from it's first draft stages. Makes me feel loved. Yup, this is how they got sick and you won't believe how hard it was to write that little bridge to water scene. I think I did it over about fifteen or so times before settling on something I liked. And it still needs work. sighs**

**Abi2:** Here ya go.

**WildfireFriendship0:**Now you know, not that it makes a hole lot of sense.

**Mercenary Pen:** chews on you duel scene Yar, chapter 1 needs fixing and I'm getting to it. Of course I couldn't let Yugi orBakura take on their Yami forms, thetwo would've beet off the punks and then ripped each other to bits and Ijust can't let that happen...yet.And yes there will be duels in here, but not of the card variety cause I'm just very bad at that stuff.

**Scarab Dynasty:** Heh, yeah. A while. Like two years since the first release of chapter one. I reserve the right to blame school and bad procrastination habit for that. But yay, I updated FINALLY

And mucho's thankies to all the other people that read my story in the first place and the ones that didn't review. Except those of you who thought it sucked cause, if it sucks, tell me, so I can fix it.

* * *

**_Published on:_** Friday, March 18, 2005 


	3. Setup for Disaster

Keiji: Wow, two years huh. Maybe if we all expect an update every two years I won't dissapoint anybody. Seriously though, you all can feel free to throw rotten fruit at me. I deserve it. Erm, I also realize that the previous chapters are still in need of some major revision. NEVAR! I think I'll worry about that the day I actually finish this story (dose anybody believe that this'll actually happen anymore?) For those of you that have indeed been waiting patiently. I present to you this third chapter at last with the sinking feeling that the wait was soooooo not worth it. But I press onwards! This story isn't dead yet.

On a separate note, pairings have all been decided, this story is a 100 non-yaoi/shounen-ai.

* * *

**Chapter 3: Setup for Disaster**

There's no crueler temptress then temptation herself, Kaiba decided as he sat in detention that afternoon...alone. Yugi had gone home at the end of lunch, and Jounouchi had simply baled, leaving Kaiba wishing he'd done the same. Alright, so he wasn't completely alone, the only reason he wasn't getting out of there himself in the first place, but they, i.e. other people, really weren't worth considering.

So as not to bore the reader the actual detention time shall be skipped since nothing worth mentioning happened, quit literally. In fact, Mitsuhori-sensei didn't show her face up until the last couple minutes of class and then only to return the items that had been confiscated earlier that day. She didn't make any comments on the individuals absent from the confinement, just merely sent those that had shown on their way. With an aggravated sigh at all the wasted time, Kaiba pulled out his cellphone and called for a pick up once he was outside the school doors.

The wait was only slightly more interesting than the actual confinement back in the class room. But not for any pleasant reason. Kaiba grew quickly agitated standing there by the door, he had the feeling somebody was watching him, and he prided himself on having pretty accurate perception on such things. How could he not when he had to dodge the media, fangirls, hateful business partners, stalkers, and the like? Yet, no matter how hard he looked around and tried to spot the culprit, he saw nothing.

When the limousine finally pulled up in front of the gate, Kaiba couldn't help the sense of relief. There was something particularly overwhelming in the area. He wasn't a superstitious person by no means, but it took all his self control to cross the school yard to the limousine with a walk instead of a run. It wasn't until he had closed the black door behind him and told the driver to move out that he glanced out the window back towards the school grounds.

There, right by the open school gate, sat a cat. It's fur was a distinct tan, while its belly and paws where white with splotched tabby eyes. Almond shaped green-yellow eyes stared at the him. Kaiba wanted to scoff at his own paranoia, getting spooked by a cat of all things, for the most part he did. That didn't stop him from staring at the feline as the limousine pulled away. And the cat stared right back, straight at his eyes, completely undisturbed by the near black of the limousine's tinted windows.

* * *

Home was a trial on Yugi's almost limitless patience.

The first trial came in the form of the vile little bottle of red liquid that was supposedly cherry flavored. Cherry's that had been left out in the sun too long and rotted away into a pile of melting limburger cheese. Frankly, he thought the medicine was more likely to kill him then the cold.

"You know why medicine tastes so bad?" his grandfather chuckled wickedly standing in the bathroom doorway and watching Yugi furiously brush at his teeth and tongue to get rid of the taste. In that condition, the teen could obviously not answer, but the old man continued on anyway not having expected a confirmation. "It's so that you get better faster, just so that you don't have to take it again." Laughing at his own cleverness, old Muto shuffled down the hall to fetch some extra blankets for his grandson.

Quite invisible to the old man had been the ancient spirit gagging behind Yugi. Yami had not taken too well at having to share the sensation of the medicine's taste with his host. Once Sarutobi was out of sight and sound a mini-war for the toothbrush ensued which Yugi, by virtue of possessing a physical body, ultimately won. Yes, even Yami could loose at some things.

By the time the bathroom was vacated Sarutobi was was back to herd Yugi to his room and bed. Nope, the younger wasn't given any options. "Nothing like food and rest to make a person feel better." and true to his words, by the time Yugi had changed into his pajamas and settled into his bed Sarutobi was back with a tray of warm vegetable rice. Yugi wrinkled his nose at the meal, but swallowed the food down under pressure from both Yami and his grandfather.

Of course, as soon as Yugi was done his grandfather started tucking blanket after blanket around him. All-together there were three blankets and comforter on him, far too hot for Yugi and his fever. Of course his grandfather wouldn't have any complaints.

"You kick 'em off I'll staple them to the bed." He said as he left the room, waving a staple gun, which he pulled out of a convenient pocket, menacingly.

"Just for the record. If I melt to death, it'll be all your fault!" Yugi wined after Sarutobi as the old man closed to room door behind him. Listening quietly for his grandfather's footsteps going down the stairs back to the shop, and then counting the seconds of three extra minutes, Yugi judged himself safe. Kicking the blankets off, he sat up with a sigh of relief.

"You should rest" Yami admonished from his seat at Yugi's table. Yugi glanced at the watch which happily declared the time as 1:37 p.m.

"Too early." Yugi whined, standing from his bed and pulling a large square of cardboard from under his table. A half complete puzzle sat atop the thick paper, and Yugi quickly set to work on it. "Wanna finish it?" He asked his darker half, holding one of the pieces up to the spirit. Yami just snorted and turned his head aside. "Go to bed and get better. We need to go back to that pond and see if we can find out what happened."

"Alright, I'll finish it." Yugi hummed, not responding to Yami's comment. He knew that they would have to go back eventually. Didn't like the idea at all but accepted it as a necessity. If somebody else got hurt just because he was too scared to fight whatever had attacked him he would never be able to forgive himself.

Until that time though, he could enjoy this little break and finish this puzzle.

"If you don't go to sleep soon, the medicin'll wear off and you'll just start coughing again." Yami said as he turned around in the chair to stradle the seat, placing his arms atop the back of it and resting his chin on them. He watched Yugi try to put the puzzle back together on the floor below him.

Try being the functioning adjective in this case, because Yugi spent more time staring blankly at the puzzle then putting pieces back into place. The younger of the two just gave a hum to acknowledge Yami's statement. Yugi just couldn't get his mind focused on the task, drifting off in thought and often finding himself dosing off.

Finally after half an hour of fruitless attempts of working at the puzzle Yugi slid it back under his table, acknowledging defeat to his failing mental faculties. Yami flashed him a V for victory as he stood to crawl back into bed. With a sigh Yugi laid back down, pulling only one of the blankets over himself. He thought that it must have been the medicine, it probably had some sort of 'make ya sleepy' chemical or whatever in it. With a yawn he closed his eyes and let himself drift off. He did smile slightly when he heard Yami whisper a **"Goodnight." **from his yami.

* * *

Mokub stared out the window with glazed eyes. Seto should have been home long ago, and Mokuba really wished that his older brother would stop long enough once in a while to let him know that plans might have changed. Heaven forbid Seto spend the extra three minutes calling his beloved sibling so the younger didn't worry.

Not that Mokuba worried about Seto, his older brother was quite capable of taking care of himself. It's just that when Seto disapeared for prolonged periods of time, bad things tended to happen to Mokuba. That alone would be more then enough to put most people on edge. Even in the Kaiba mansion, with its radically redesigned security system, just didn't feel quite so safe anymore.

That and Mokuba was bored. When Seto was at work you don't bother him, but at home one could get away with the darndest things...like toilet papering his home office. But Seto was late, so there wasn't anyone to bug, and Mokuba hadn't planned anything that would require lots of preparation time. Thus a time off general monotony and boredom was spent in the wait for Seto's return.

Mokuba blinked and came back to reality as a movement caught his attention out in the front yard. A cat was crossing the green lawn, dodging the wet circles of spray shot up by the sprinklers. With a grin Mokuba dashed from the window, slipped a pair of sandals, and was out the door. He slowed his headlong rush as he got close to the cat and it turned to look at him.

He crouched down, holding his hand out, trying not the scare the cat while still trying to get it come to him. "Here, here, here.." he cooed. The feline blinked a couple times at him before walking proudly up to his outstretched limb. It was an odd cat, Mokuba mused, a chocolaty tan color except for its paws and underbelly which were covered in odd splotched tabby stripes.

It purred as Mokuba started to scratch it under the chin and behind its ears. He smiled as the feline took another step forward and arched its back under his hand. After just petting it got a bit boring he plucked a long piece of grass and waved it in front of the animal. The cat was quick to try to pounce on the waving object, batting at the stalk with soft paws. Mokuba laughed and continued to play it.

Too soon though he heard the clang of the opening front gates and the rumbling entrance of Seto's limousine. The cat seemed to be very interested by the cars sudden appearance, watching it with keen eyes as it pulled level with the buildings front door and Seto Kaiba stepped out.

"Nii-san!" Mokuba picked up the cat, holding it against him like an overgrown stuffed toy and ran to greet his brother. Seto was closing the limousine door when Mokuba bounced up to him with a cheerful "Welcome home." The older Kaiba just grunted a reply, turning away from the retreating limousine towards the front door. Mokuba shot a pout at Seto's back, it had been a long time since Seto had greeted him with little more then a grunt. He glanced down at the feline in his arms which blinked large gold-green eyes at him, and grinned as an idea came to him. Seto, if distracted enough, could say some rather out of place things so why not take advantage of such.

He bounced up to beside his older brother as Seto opened the door and asked in his most neutrally innocent voice. "Can we keep it?"

Mokuba was being optimistic, nobody that had cared for any child would ever let such a question pass under the radar. Seto immediately put his attention on his sibling and 'it.' Not an all together bad thing for Mokuba, at least he had Seto's attention now. 'It' however was staring back at Seto, opening its mouth to reveal pointy fangs and teeth in what was eerily like a feline equivalent of a grin.

"Put that down!" Seto made a grab for the cat but the feline in less then a seconds time had wriggled out of Mokuba's grasp and skittered away from the two Kaiba's.

"You scared it." Mokuba whined as he tried to go after the cat which had halted its run in the middle of the drive way, but a his brother's hand held him back.

"Leave the thing. You shouldn't play with stray animals, you'll get sick." Mokuba bit back the bitter 'like you'd care' he had been about to say in favor of leveling a pleading gaze on his brother. "Please, can we keep it." he tried again.

"No." Seto emphasized the finality of his command by pushing the younger Kaiba through the door and inside the manor. He glanced behind him on last time to see the cat staring at him once again. It couldn't possibly be the same feline that he'd seen at school, Seto reasoned, no animal could cross that distance faster then a car. But there the feline was, and with an amused, or perhaps dismissive, flick of its tail it loped off, squeezing between the bars of the front gate and away. Seto shook the eerie feeling that was back in full force off, stepping into his manor, closing and locking the door firmly behind him.

Half an hour later Mokuba was still in a fine temper. He hadn't said a thing to his brother since having been forced into the house, not because he was being stubborn but because if he did open his mouth to say something, he'd probably regret what would come out of it in the long run. So he sat on his bed, arms and legs crossed, and firmly ignoring the rest of the world, at least until his mood improved.

_Ratkatatat_.

The sound of something shaking pulled him out of his own dark thoughts and drew his eyes to the open door of his room. Across the hall, the door to Seto's room was also cracked open. Again he heard the rattling, come quite obviously from his brother's room.

Sliding off the bed, Mokuba tip toed out his room and to Seto's door. He first peeked through the crack to make sure that he hadn't at some point missed Seto coming out of his office one floor below and entering the room. But what he could see seemed to indicate that the room was quite empty. Again something rattled from withing. With a light shove Mokuba opened the door wider to see the room fully.

It was spartan at best, only the most basic furniture represented within, and most of it went completely ignored by the younger Kaiba who'd seen the room too many times to pay the furnishings any attention. His gaze focused on the only moving object in the room. On Seto's small table was the leather case that held the elder Kaiba's dueling deck. It was rocking back and forth slightly on its curved front, as if something had just shaken it.

Mokuba glanced around to make sure nothing else was moving. This was japan and earthquakes that were mostly unfelt but set stationary objects to shaking weren't all that uncommon. However everything else in the room was quite still, even Seto's swinging pendulum balls. Even more curious now, Mokuba walked up to the table and picked up the duel deck case, flicking it open with his thumb. The back of the cards was facing towards him and, without really thinking, he pulled out the first one. When he flipped it the iridescent image of the Blue Eyes Shining Dragon glistened back at him in the diminishing evening light.

* * *

Bakura pressed the delete button of the answering machine, erasing the latest message his father had left him. The man had been calling obsessively since word got to him off Bakura's hospitalization. It had been all Ryou could do to convince the man that he was fine other then needing some extra money wired into over to pay for the hospital bills. It was only after the call had been finished for 15 minutes and Bakura was running late for school that he'd realized that he'd just convinced his father to stay away, when for the last ten years he'd been doing everything possibly to convince the man to stay at all.

Bakura wasn't eager, or in good enough health, to want to deal with that bit of soul searching and questioning. So, just like that morning, he pushed the troubling thoughts out of his mind as the answering machine happily told him that there were 'no longer any new messages.'

From there it was the same old regular routine. Make food, eat and do homework, clean up mess, finish homework, study, read, check e-mail. Same old, same old, even if now he had an occasional round of coughing to deal with. Before he went to bed he did his usual ritual, lighting the candle and incense, praying, and such like.

Nothing out of the ordinary, in fact, by that time he was coughing less and felt generally better then he had that morning. Even the Millennium Ring was unusually well behaved, he'd felt nothing from the magic item or its spirit the entire weekend and day, though usually his yami maid himself quite well known when bad things began happening. Something like that should have disturbed him, but Ryou couldn't help but feel relieved at the small respite, he knew well enough that it would be a short lived break. The ring was rarely quite for long these days.

Unkown to him as he went to sleep that night, the rings spirit was very much trying to make itself heard. But Bakura's yami, for all his effort and centuries of accumulated power, could not break through the barrier that had insidiously inserted itself that cold Friday evening in the park. The spirit was still cut off from his host, and he could feel the tear between the two of them growing ever larger. The spirit was afraid, not for his mortality, but because if the connection broke completely he'd go back into that timeless sleep within which he'd before the Millennium Ring had come into Ryou's hands.

Yami Bakura had no intention of being defeated in such a simple and pathetic manner. But nothing he did seemed to have an impact on the cold liquid barrier. And so he sat in his darkened soul room, staring at the liquid that flowed from the top of the rooms door to splash at its bottom in a never ending waterfalls. A deceptively fragile looking wall of water that all the force in the world seemed unable to part.

He'd been glaring, kicking, and cursing, at the water in turn for the last couple days and was by now, even in his spirit form, quite exhausted from the effort. The more he grew tired the darker the room became. The water which had at one point simply vanished beneath the door began to gather in an ever growing pool at its foot. It seemed as if sleep would soon claim the spirit for another thousand years.

Except, as Bakura watched the flow of the water began to lessen, and the pool at the doors foot shrink. Life and awareness seemed to seep back into the room and the spirits which had already fallen into a threatening doze woke fully to the sight of only a few drips of water falling from the doors roof. Cautiously Yami Bakura stood from where he'd been sitting against the wall, the absence of the barrier was only noted in passing, his focus instead drawn on a voice from beyond the door. A voice calling him, and a shadowy force tugging at the Ring's own power to pull him out. The dark spirit opened the now freed portal and stepped out.

Bakura sat up in his bed, the physical body well within the control of the dark spirit, even as his host continued to sleep. Ryou had left the window open a couple inches and the moonlight revealed a small dark shape sitting within that gap. Yami Bakura stared back at the glowing gold-green cat eyes laughed at him. In an instant he placed the voice that had summoned and let out a hissed egyptian curse, which made the feline within the window smile, truly and literally smile.

"It has been such a long time." purred the cat in a feminine voice, leaping lightly off the windowsill and landing on silent paws. "Hasn't it?" her eyes never once wavered away from him, or changed their laughing expression.

"What do you want?" the dark spirit asked lowly, though he made no attempt at gathering any dark power to either defend or attack. Even he could tell that time had not been as kind to this one as it had been to him. While within the Millennium Ring he'd grown stronger it was obvious that she had grown weaker. For the first time they stood as equals, though he drew little pleasure from the fact.

"To make a new bargain." The felines maw opened to show white teeth, turning the smile into a full blown grin. "You were ill repaid for your last services."

* * *

Published On: Saturday, April 21st, 2007 


End file.
